Robin Greeley |
By Matt
Pascarella
Robin
Greeley is an art educator for the RSU14 district. She teaches grades
kindergarten through fourth grade with three and one-half days at Raymond
Elementary School and grades kindergarten through third grade with one and
one-half days at Windham Primary School. Art is her passion; something she
defines as sitting down to do and suddenly four hours have gone by and it feels
like five minutes.
Greeley
explained she brings an artistic background to the classroom by sharing stories
of the artists;
their struggles, how they were accepted and the historical
element to her teachings. “I think you’re apt to allow the kids the freedom to
ask. ‘well, what if I did this?’”
For many
years, she worked in the home, raising her children. But once they were in
school and was busy with their many activities, Greeley asked herself what she
wanted to do next with her life.
She
knew she enjoyed working with children and had always had an interest in the
arts so she started researching and thought she might like to be a teacher. She
knew that if she was going to be an educator, she wanted to teach something she
was passionate about. It was at that point she made her decision to teach art
to young children.
“The
fact that I get so much joy out of doing art, making art...this is what I’m
supposed to be doing because I’m thoroughly engaged, I’m not trying to rush
through something...just to complete it. It’s something I fully enjoy, and it
fulfills me,” Greeley explained.
The
children are her favorite part of the job. Greeley stated she knows people say,
‘I learn more from the kids than they’ll ever learn from me,’ but Greeley
stresses that is really true. “Kids teach adults how to look at things
differently.” If she puts a colander on the table, she knows its purpose, but
to a kid, it can be a hat, or something they can stand in and tip side to side.
“The novelty of things and the way that they see things I think is what I love
the most.”
A
Raymond resident and Windham High graduate, Greeley is married with two
children. She’s lived between Massachusetts and Florida for many years until
she moved to Maine when she was a junior in high school. She graduated from the
University of Southern Maine with a B.A. in fine arts and a concentration in
education. This past summer she got her master’s degree in special education
with a gifted and talented endorsement.
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